08 Jun 10
Originally posted by ZahlanziThe meaning of 'good person' in the OP is 'a person whose intentions are good'.
oh, so a person can regularly do bad things and be still called a good person?
what about a good atheist? can a good atheist do bad things? if yes, how can your claim stand?
As I said, it is not only good religious people who do bad things but generally good people who do things religiously - this does include atheists. If I was taught from a young age that our tradition is to do x and x is morally wrong, I may turn a blind eye to the immorality of x or even think it is moral because of tradition, but you would not necessarily call me a bad person for doing so.
If you visited South Africa, and interviewed all the white people who lived here during apartheid and in some way supported the apartheid system, you would probably call many of them 'good people'.
08 Jun 10
Originally posted by whodeyLet me take a wild stab: (Christians claim)Christ is born good and lives a good life and dies good while someone like the bhudda is born with karma(bad), lives a life of self determination,(good, I suppose), and dies good.
Of course, I can't speak for everyone but as far as myself is concerned, Christ has made me a better person. In fact, what do we make of Christ? Is he good or bad?
08 Jun 10
Originally posted by whodeyThe OP does not claim that religion makes all good people do bad things. Not at all.
Of course, I can't speak for everyone but as far as myself is concerned, Christ has made me a better person. In fact, what do we make of Christ? Is he good or bad?
It claims rather that in order for (some) good people to do bad things, you need religion.
Certainly it cannot be denied that religion does in some cases cause good people to do bad things. The only question then is whether the claim that 'it takes religion' to cause this is justified. In other words, is religion just one of many things that causes good people to do bad things, or is it unique (or unusual) in this respect.
I could say making money is easy, but making lots of money - that takes hard work!.
Of course there are ways to make money that don't take hard work, but my above statement still makes sense and is justified.
